For a Moment
by warmfluffypastries
Summary: A fluffy little one shot-after last nights ep. 8x02 Hostile Takeover


A/N: Just a little piece of fluff I had to get out after last night's ep. Hope you like it.

Waving one last time to the car in her driveway she let herself inside. She'd been sober enough to drive but Horatio had insisted on driving them all, and she'd been the first stop. She stepped out of her stilettos leaving them by the door, dropped her keys in the bowl on the side table, before stripping off her suit coat.

Draping the coat over the back of the sofa, she headed for the kitchen grabbing some bread to pop in the toaster, knowing even the little alcohol she'd consumed would give her a massive headache in the morning if she didn't eat something before going to bed. She grabbed the sweet tea from the fridge to poor a glass before putting it back.

After finishing her toast and tea, she headed to her bedroom peeling off the rest of her clothes as she went. She chose not to look at the bed, knowing it would be empty…she'd gotten so used to Eric being there, she didn't know how she was going to survive not being able to speak with him for another week. No sooner had he woken up after his surgery had Rick Stetler been there telling them both that they were not to speak with or see each other until IAB's investigation had concluded.

Alexx had kept her up to date on his progress, and had even filled her in on what would be needed once he'd been released. She'd gone to his place a few days earlier to clean and return some of his necessities, she'd been shocked to find that he'd had his power, water, and heating turned off. It was at that moment she'd realized they'd been living together for nearly four months without an official comment from either of them. She'd broken down sitting in Eric's bedroom, seeing the empty drawers, not being able to turn on any of the lights.

Finishing up her nighttime routine she grabbed the neatly folded extra large t-shirt and pulled it on. It landed high on her thighs and the cotton was wearing thin from years of wear and tear, but it smelled of Eric and that was all she cared about in that moment. She stopped short of crawling into bed when she saw the lump of a sleeping body, he was breathing evenly, and she could see the bandage still secured to the back of his head.

"Eric," she murmured, finally crawling up next to him. She ran her fingers gently over his face, first his cheeks then his lips, and down to his neck; feeling his pulse beating steadily under her fingers and the body heat emanated from him in waves. She savored the moment, finally touching him for the first time since the morning they'd gone to work over three weeks ago.

She'd been unsure of his feelings after he'd woken; he had barely met her eyes when Rick had stepped in at the hospital. But seeming him here, putting his own career in jeopardy she couldn't help but know exactly how he felt. "Eric," she tried again, not wanting to wake him, but needing to, she needed to make sure that he got home without anyone knowing he'd been there. "Wake up."

"Cal," he muttered, wrapping a strong arm around her neck he pulled her down to lay directly on top of him, "missed you."

"Eric you need to wake up," she tried again, lifting her head from where his hand had dropped to run the length of her back, "you need to get out of here."

"What?" his eyes finally opened meeting hers, in the low glow from the moon out the window, "Oh," he finally sighed, sitting up and turning to get up, "I—ah…never mind," he grabbed his pants from the floor pulling them on before stopping to momentarily compose himself, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay…I saw the news."

"Everything turned out okay, Danielle won't be back to work for awhile but everyone else escaped unscathed," she watched him finally stand and search for his shoes, "how'd you get here?"

"Took a cab," he sighed finally spotting his shoes next to her half empty dresser, "I…uh—I'll come get the rest of my stuff tomorrow."

"No," she retorted flatly, knowing that something had misconnected somewhere.

"Okay," he sighed, "well when?"

"Never," she replied simply, "but you can move the rest of your stuff in as soon as things are cleared up with IAB."

He stared at her dumbfounded for several minutes before nodding slowly and offered her a small grin, "okay," he spoke softly, "I'm glad you're okay."

"I'm more than okay," she climbed off the bed coming to stand in front of him, wrapping her arms around his waist and pulling him close, "as long as you're okay and we're okay, I'm great."

Eric grinned to himself hugging her just as tightly, he placed a kiss against her temple, before finally releasing her, "I love you."

"I love you too," she murmured against his neck before finally releasing him, "let's get you home."

"I'll see you next week then?" he asked, following her out to the living room, where she pulled out the phonebook to call him a cab.

"Yes, as soon as you get back, we'll get things taken care of," she nodded. "It'll be here shortly."

"Thanks," he took a seat on the couch, "I did want to apologize to you for everything that went down…I know you were just doing your job."

"At least in the end something good came out of it…you no longer have a bullet fragment in your head," she offered a small smile, "and I'm sorry too, I should've trusted you to know what you were doing."

"I didn't though," he shrugged, "I had no idea, but all I can do now is be grateful everyone I care about came out of this alive and unscathed."

They continued to speak softly until the cab arrived, they shared one last kiss before he headed out, she watched from the window as the cab pulled away from her home carrying the man she loved.

She headed back to bed burying herself in the warmth Eric had left for her, and she cried. She cried for everything she could have lost, and everything she knew she would never take for granted again. And when she finally fell asleep it was peaceful for the first time since Eric had had surgery. She slept knowing that no matter what came from IAB's investigation she would always have Eric.


End file.
